Inspired by Life of Pi, a Czech visitor who had overstayed his tourist visa and did not have money for an airplane ticket tried to leave Taiwan on a crudely built raft to travel to Japan.
Martin Psota launched his raft on Sunday from Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Pingtung County, but did not travel far. Unfortunately for Psota, it was a much tougher task than he envisioned. He was soon overcome by exhaustion from rowing and the jerry-rigged raft made of logs and Styrofoam began to break apart.
It was his good luck that a Coast Guard Administration patrol boat picked him up off Oluanpi, ending his brief adventure.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The coast guard unit received a telephone call at about 11am on Sunday from a fishing boat, whose captain told them: “We are 5.5km offshore of Oluanpi. There is a foreigner floating at sea in a decrepit-looking raft.”
When the patrol boat headed there to take a closer look, the coast guard personnel were astounded by what they saw.
“How can anyone be so crazy? This man went out to sea in a small raft, consisting only of logs, driftwood and Styrofoam tied together. When we found him, the raft was already falling apart,” a coast guard officer said.
They were even more astonished when Psota told his story — that while traveling in Taiwan, he saw Life of Pi, which gave him the inspiration to build a raft from materials he found on the beach.
Psota was quoted as saying that he came to Taiwan in November, but had overstayed his tourist visa and had spent all his money, so he could not buy a ticket to leave the country. He thought sailing a raft would be a good way to get to Japan, his next destination.
Coast guard reports said that when Psota was found, he only had a few items in his backpack, including NT$3, a passport, some food and water, and a smartphone, with which he wanted to navigate to Japan by GPS.
Psota said he launched the raft near Oluanpi, but “after rowing for about an hour, I was exhausted and had no more strength left. The current got stronger and I could not do anything but drift along with it.”
The coast guard unit, from a base in Hengchun (恆春), Pingtung County, said Psota was transferred to the county’s National Immigration Agency for questioning.
An official there said that according to procedure, Psota is to be deported after undergoing medical check-ups and spending time at the agency’s detention center.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT: Taipei authorities warned against drunk cycling after a sharp rise in riding under the influence, urging greater public awareness of its illegality Taipei authorities have issued a public warning urging people not to ride bicycles after consuming alcohol, following a sharp rise in riding under the influence (DUI) cases involving bicycles. Five hundred and seven people were charged with DUI last year while riding YouBikes, personal bicycles, or other self-propelled two-wheelers — a fourfold increase from the previous year, data released by the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division showed. Of these, 33 cases were considered severe enough to be prosecuted under “offenses against public safety,” the data showed. Under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), bicycles — including YouBikes and other
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
RSS